Flashback: Obama admitted energy prices would ‘skyrocket’ under his policies

President Obama laid out his new plan to tackle global warming Tuesday. In 2008, he made comments about “bankrupting” coal plant owners and making energy prices “skyrocket.”

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted,” Obama said during a meeting with the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board.

“Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad,” he added. “Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to, uh, retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”

Obama’s new plan to deal with global warming directs the Environmental Protection Agency to issue carbon dioxide limits on new and existing power plants, which critics argue would cripple the coal industry.

“President Obama today declared a war on coal, and thus declared a war on Kentucky jobs and our economy. Whether it is through the retroactive denial of permits, onerous regulations on coal-fired power plants, or unreasonable environmental requirements, the policies of this Administration are threatening the very way of life that has sustained Kentucky communities for generations,” said Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul.

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